Saturday, August 22, 2009

it's the climb

The following is the latest little article I wrote for our homeschool group's newsletter. Just thought I'd share it here...even for those of you who don't homeschool. :)

Welcome to the start of another school year. For some, it’s your first year homeschooling. You may have some questions, some anxiety and probably a great deal of excitement! Others of you have been at this for years and years and have an idea of what to expect. Perhaps you are longing to get back into a routine. Or maybe the reality of summer coming to an end and the responsibilities that lie ahead seem daunting. Whatever the case, I am sure that we all have a few goals in mind for this upcoming year.

This summer, my family took a road trip. Our goal was to arrive in Portland, Oregon. The drive was long. One child was sick for part of the time, one was feeling uncomfortable and the third….well, she’s two. All I wanted to do was speed through it all and just get there already! Often, when things get tough for me, I hear myself saying, “I wish I could just fast forward through all of this. I know God has some good in store for me at the end. I just hate going through it.”

Recently, while “going through it”, I came across an amazing concept from Oswald Chambers, author of My Utmost for His Highest. We should never have the thought that our dreams of success are God’s purpose for us. In fact, His purpose may be exactly the opposite. We have the idea that God is leading us toward a particular end or a desired goal, but He is not. The question of whether or not we arrive at a particular goal is of little importance, and reaching it becomes merely an episode along the way. What we see as only the process of reaching a particular end, God sees as the goal itself.

Remember to savor the daily-ness of this school year. Of course we may have some necessary goals: teaching a child to read, mastering some important math concepts, graduating a child from high school. However, keep in mind that God is busy shaping our character, and that of our kids, each step along the way. Just as I had to purpose to enjoy the time (and I do mean TIME!) in the car with my family, we can savor the days, weeks and months of this year with our students. I learned things I never knew about my kids as we drove. We laughed hard. We sang songs. We also saw some of God’s beautiful creation as we observed what was out of our windows. Taking the time to live in the moment and seek God as we go will benefit us in ways we cannot fathom.

Fellow homeschool moms and teachers, I pray that you will enjoy this year like no other. I’ll leave you with another quote….don’t hate me for it….from the Hannah Montana Movie soundtrack: There’s always gonna be another mountain. I’m always gonna wanna make it move. Always gonna be an uphill battle, sometimes I’m gonna have to lose. Ain’t about how fast I get there, ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side….it’s the climb.